Prague, Warsaw, London and Gayle. The End of a Journey.

Prague

Prague.

John and I arrived in Prague on Easter day. We checked into our AirBnB and hopped right across the street to a small local restaurant, U Bohouse. The food was delicious! My bestie Gayle was flying to Prague in 3 days to spend the rest of our adventure with us. We wanted to get a feel for the neighborhood before she arrived. We found a great little Martini bar a half block from our flat so we decided to go in and have a drink. We were the only ones there and it was an eclectic mix of books and monkey themed artwork. We loved the vibe and decided this was a place to take Gayle.

Beer Garden

Over the next 3 days we scoped out more restaurants, bars and the beer garden that was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR FLAT!

The BEST Pork knuckle!

Gayle arrived and we started her stay out at U Bohouse. For the next week, we toured the city, visited the beer garden more than once, had a wild night at the martini bar, drank wine in the park and discovered the very delicious pork knuckle!

Monastic Brewery. Pic by Gayle.

We also visited a brewery in the cellar of a monastery!

Vinohrady

Prague is the most beautiful city I have seen. Our neighborhood, Vinohrady, was in the city yet felt very much like a small neighborhood with beautiful buildings, friendly people and great places to eat and drink. I would not hesitate to stay in Vinohrady again sometime.

Warsaw

Warsaw.

From Prague we took a train to Warsaw Poland. On our train ride to Budapest from Oradea Romania, we had a dining car which was wonderful. As it was the same train system going to Warsaw and the website also indicated a dining car, John and I were eager to show Gayle the perks of European train travel by dining and drinking in the dining car. Well, we were informed by a very nice train employee that there was no dining CAR but instead a dining CART. I guess they forgot the “T” on the website.
We had a first class compartment on the train all to ourselves until we crossed into Poland. We were then joined by less than friendly passengers but they kept to themselves and we just ate our snacks.

Warsaw was very different from the other European cities we visited. During WWII, Hitler destroyed approximately 85% of the city. Because of this, Warsaw for the most part has been completely rebuilt. It is a beautiful city with modern buildings and gorgeous parks. Our AirBnB was in the city and right across from several bars.

Gayle and John right before getting yelled at

There were also milk bars in our neighborhood. Milk Bars. A Polish tradition. They started at the turn of the 1900's and became extremely popular during the communist era. It's like an American diner - kind of. Milk Bars in Warsaw are all the same. There is a large menu (all in Polish) when you walk in. You order from the cashier and then give your receipt to a cook in a window. If you linger around the window she will tell you to sit your ass down (right Gayle and John?) When your food is ready she will call it out, in Polish of course. You bus your own table when you leave. Did I mention the food is authentic polish fare and is so so good! Oh! The 3 of us ate for $8-$12 !

Radio Cafe. My favorite European cafe.

One day we decided to take the Hop On Hop Off tour. It was a bit of a mess, there was only 1 bus and a lot of waiting around. However, it allowed us to have a great lunch at Radio Café waiting for the next bus to arrive. We had, of course, pork knuckle. We also ordered perogies. It was a classic meal at a classic café in Poland.

We found a great bar to have drinks (and pork knuckle), a great restaurant to have one of the greatest brunches I have had and a great neighborhood central to Warsaw.

London

London.

So we took a very early flight out of Warsaw to London. We stayed in the Elephant & Castle neighborhood. At first, arriving at the train station, we found the neighborhood a bit sketchy. But after we got settled in at our AirBnB flat, we ventured out and found the nearest pub. We ordered traditional English fare, Fish and chips, bangers and mash and sticky toffee pudding. Quite good I must say. A very nice English guy named Joe who worked at the pub gave us several suggestions for things to do, eat and drink in the neighborhood and London in general.

We took a tour of London and also a nice bus ride or two and took in the sights. London is so big that you wouldn’t be able to see all of it in a month of Sundays. It is an incredible city!

Mercado Metropolitano

One of Joe’s recommendations was the Mercado Metropolitano. An Italian market, it was designed to look like the huge food halls in Turin and Milan, but a bit more funky.   There were so many food stalls offering everything from BBQ to pizza to charcuterie to our favorite, raclette. We went there twice and just stuffed ourselves. 

We took Gayle to one of our favorite parts of London, Islington. We sat outside and drank beer and then introduced Gayle to middle eastern food at Harman’s.

Going home. Pic by Gayle.

Leaving London and Europe was very bittersweet. We were anxious to see everybody back in the states and be back in our own space would be exciting but I truly love Europe. We have made new friends and have seen so many beautiful places. From pet sitting to AirBnBs, it was an incredible journey. I’ll miss saying to John “Did ya ever think we’d be doing this?” and waking up in the mornings and for the first few seconds wondering where in the world I am. Our plan is to go back, not right away but in the future.

Goodbye Europe and goodbye to AbroadWithJohn.

Cheers.

Barb

Our First Week in Budapest

John:  We arrived at the Budapest train station in the early afternoon with temperatures feeling like 6 degrees fahrenheit. After taking the subway we exited our train at the Kalvin Square substation and walked up the flight of stairs to a pedestrian square busy with people. At the top of the stairs I saw tall ornate buildings and shiny modern glass buildings surrounding an expansive pedestrian area busy with people. We walked by several restaurants, bars, retail shops and tall buildings to a building with a placard “Vamhaz 15 at the corner so we proceeded looking for number 11.

Our building (yellow)

Our landlord, Judit, a woman in her early 30’s with red hair, hurriedly came from a car double parked, arrived within a couple of minutes. She welcomed us to Budapest and quickly swiped a fob from her key chain next to the keypad by the door and a buzzing sounded immediately. She pushed open the tall heavy door allowing us to enter a short hallway looking into a courtyard. She walked quickly down the hallway and went up two stairs on the right. We met her in front of an open elevator reminiscent of the communist era one we used in Romania. The red metal door opened to two café doors that snapped open when pushed. We all were able to fit in the small elevator and slowly made our way to the 2nd floor. The elevator opened to a small enclosed landing area looking out to the courtyard below. We exited the landing and walked past one door to our apartment and Judit opened it.

The apartment is a 1-bedroom, 1-bath with a kitchen. It was neat and clean. We found some tourist brochures, a map under the sink, a laminated card with the wifi and contact information with house rules. The last rule was to “Enjoy the bottle of local wine on the table as Judit’s way of saying, thank you.” There was no bottle of wine in the apartment and thats probably why she hid the info sheet under the sink. There is no laundry detergent so I am going to buy a box of 22 Tide pods. Since we will have a bunch left over I am going to flavor my tea with them leading up to my Tide Pod Tasting on the last day here.

We familiarized ourselves with the apartment, accessed wifi and set up the bathroom and clothes and excited to venture outside to several places we saw coming in. Barb read about a craft brewery, Monyo Taproom, toward Kelvin Square so we went there. Except for Ireland and a rare occurrence, I had not had much fortune to drink anything but pilsners while on this adventure and satisfied my beer selection to Carling, Carlsburg, Tuborg or any other local brew. The taste difference was incremental and it wasn’t worth the additional cost or disappointment.

Budapest streets

It was a three minute walk to Monyo. It was small place serving their craft beer, wine and mixed drinks. We perused the beer list and I opted for the “Dead Rabbit” IPA, 9.6 ABV, and Barb selected the “Invisible Bikini”, a 5.6 ABV Porter. I typically avoid the higher alcohol content beers because they tend to have an odd flavor resembling a liqueur or brandy but this one got rave reviews. The corner bar was four feet by eight feet constructed of 16 inch diameter posts at ends and corner with a beam on top. The bar stools were tree swings! While it was interesting and cool looking I would be hesitant to sit in one after a couple of 9.6 ABV beers.
The bartender was a guy in his late twenties. I greeted him “Ha(t)-low”. I said I would like a Dead Rabbit and an Invisible Bikini. The two .41 liters glasses of beer were on the counter and he handed me a ticket for 2,100 forints, roughly $6.30. I paid him and received my change with a “cos-zo-nom”-Thank you. He smiled with a similar response.

Barb was talking to a coupe of people and petting their dog “Muffin” and we went to one of the only remaining vacant tables. The patio was enclosed with plastic walls but was a little chilly for us. The beers were delicious so we had another round but I opted for the “Flying Rabbit” IPA, 5.6 ABV.

We left Monyo and headed across the street to “Tao” for some Chinese food. It was cafeteria style and we looked at the half dozen types of chicken, lo mein noodles, rice and vegetables. We both ordered the same things, lo mein, rice and vegetables. We sat at a back table and enjoyed a delicious meal. We packed our left overs in a plastic container and headed back to our apartment. It felt very cold on our short walk back but we were inside our warm apartment in minutes.

We both talked about the good beer, delicious food and exciting atmosphere of the city and the great location of our apartment. We talked for awhile and I asked Barb, “Did you ever think…?”. Her face lit up with her great smile saying, “Nope, not in a million years.

Just having a cup of coffee

Barb:  The Zoo Cafe. When I read about it I really wanted to go. Knowing my love of animals, John was agreeable to it also. We started off with a very colorful lizard type who actually was quite active if not slow. I think he was my favorite.
Then came another lizard that did not really move at all.
The third was a python. Oh dear God. But you know what? He really wasn’t very scary, he was so smooth and soft. He wrapped himself around my wrist which John took as a sign of affection. I’m not quite sure.
Then we had a very cute little guinea pig who was only interested in eating his carrot.
The last was a rabbit. Soft and sweet.

Our new friend

They also had very large cats roaming the cafe as well as birds and other snakes and lizards in glass aquariums. We both agreed that was a very unique experience and we really enjoyed it.

John:  We’ve been in Budapest for six days and understand Anthony Bourdain’s comment on its architecture, "If there was such a thing as architecture porn, it would be this". We rode the “most scenic tram route in the world”, number two and saw the magnificent Parliament building, a landmark of Hungary, a popular tourist destination of Budapest and largest and tallest building in Budapest. It was built in 1896 and is 96 meters tall. We plan on visiting the Parliament building to see it lit up at night. But while there are other grand buildings it’s the buildings used as businesses and apartments that give Budapest a beauty. The old buildings have been restored beautifully and newer construction melds seamlessly. As I walk through the city I enjoy looking down each street to see the blending of the muted colors of the different building or an ornately decorated dome peering over one of them. Some of the streets are old cobbles stone and there are small pedestrian town squares dotting the city. Many of the buildings have ornate sculptures as part of their façade. But the bank building over the sub station of the metro is all glass and metal and the canopies over the stairs connecting the subway are metal and glass. All of the architecture blends to give it a very pleasing feel.

Barb: “Ruin Bars”. In city known for “architecture porn”, its ironic that these bars are one of the main tourist attractions. In the late 90’s, many of Budapest’s buildings were in disrepair. Predatory developers were buying up the city’s decaying historic buildings, razing them, and replacing them with cheap and unsightly alternatives. Local activists, campaigning to save the country’s architectural heritage, succeeded in securing protected status for the Jewish District, one of the worst affected areas. Still without the funds necessary to actually revitalise these buildings, a creative solution was hit upon. The first ruin bar, Szimpla Kert opened in the an old factory. From then on, ruin bars popped up all over the district. Using the old buildings, flea market finds for decorations, they have become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Budapest.

We actually just stumbled upon Szimpla Kert by accident. We were walking down a street, saw the opening (not the sign) and went in. When I saw the name inside, I recognized it as the famous ruin bar. It was crazy cool inside! A main “hallway” off of which were many rooms with bars. The hallway led out to a courtyard. There is a second story also filled with rooms that looked down on the first floor. Our plans are to visit several other ruin bars during our stay.

John: The city is vibrant with people but the excellent mass transit, trams, buses, subway and taxis, seem to move many of the people making the streets lest congested and easy to cross. The people appreciate my polite attempt at their language but most of them speak English making communication easy. There are many restaurants, bars, cafes, grocery store, shops and other businesses common to all main roads. We have thoroughly enjoyed each of our meals since arriving here and don’t think we will be able to try all or even most of the restaurants we are interested in. We’ve eaten Hungarian goulash a couple of times and twice at a Hungarian restaurant. The food was delicious and goulash is advertised in many restaurants and I have noticed several Hungarian food places we haven’t been to. It seems the local foods are as desirable as the other ethnic foods. While all big cities can boast of ample variety and good quality ethnic restaurants only in Budapest does the local foods stand on equal footing. We came to Budapest from Romania and we thought being spoiled by the very inexpensive cost of living there would take some adjustment. While Romania cost of living was about 50% of that in the States my research indicates Budapest is 30% less expensive than Chattanooga, TN. Since arriving I have found that to be true. Another benefit is the beer culture in Budapest. We are a short walk from “Monyo Café” which is actually a taproom. Breweries here are not visited by customers so it is necessary to find them at bars, restaurants, and taprooms. Monyo has excellent IPA’s and a delicious porter for about $4 for true pint. The local version of Bud cost about $2 for a 13 ounce can.

Barb: One of the city squares have street lights that are made to look like plant leaves.

The For Sale Pub

We had lunch at The For Sale Pub. The interior is covered with notes from customers. Each table comes with a box of peanuts which you throw the shells on the wooden floors which also has hay on them. There are lit candles on each table. This all seems like a fire hazard but we made it out alive and the food was great!

The smells of the city are fantastic! Down almost every street you can smell the food coming from several different restaurants. Every ethnic cuisine seems to blend with the other. We’ve tried goulash from 3 different restaurants and although we have a favorite, they we all really good. We plan on serving a lot of goulash to our friends back home! John has been bringing home street food after his morning walks. We have had pasta from “Pasta”. It comes in oyster boxes and they serve only 4 different types of pasta and it is all take away only. Across the street from our apartment is a soup cafe. They also only have take away and 4 types of soups. We love “Tao” for chinese and “Istanbul” for middle eastern cuisine.

The Market hall

John: One morning I went to Great Market Hall  just a few doors down from our apartment. The temperature on my app indicated it was 38 degrees F so it would be more comfortable today than the first time we were there since there is no heat. My objective was to find hot Hungarian paprika that would fit in our luggage with minimal risk of opening and making a mess of our clothes.

The market has three levels, the basement contains an ALDI grocery store and fish merchants, the top floor has souvenirs and prepared foods and the main floor has chocolates, baked goods, charcuterie, meats, cheeses, produce and Hungarian paprika.

The first time we saw the market it was about 25 degrees so by the time we made it to the prepared foods on the upper level I was too cold to sit at one of the open tables to enjoy it. We did, however, stop at each booth to see there displays. There was goulash, potatoes, cucumber salads, pork knuckle, blood sausages, rice, couscous, and a dozen other foods I would love to have eaten. The forecast indicates temperatures are going up to around 50 so we hope to try some of that food this weekend.

Hungarian specialties

I identified five vendors selling Hungarian paprika. From what I could discern from the internet, any paprika purchased in Hungary is far superior to anything we could get in the States. There are main types, sweet (minimal flavor basically used for color or garnish), smoked and hot. At the Hungarian restaurant across the street we had stuffed cabbage rolls on a bed of sauerkraut seasoned or made with hot Hungarian paprika and we had a bowl of delicious Hungarian goulash with just the perfect amount of heat, we assumed paprika was used. Since we both enjoy eating food with spice or heat we’ve decided to make Hungarian hot paprika one of the spices we will try when we return home. The paprika comes in decorative metal tins, decorative material bags with tiny scoops and plastic bags of different sizes.

Barb: So that was pretty much our first week. Most of what we did was right in the neighborhood we are staying in. It’s wonderful! We have over 3 weeks left and we plan on a night time boat tour on the Danube river. We want to go back and see the Parliament building, visit more ruin bars, eat more great Hungarian food and sample more local craft brews. There are so many sights to see in Budapest that I am sure we won’t see everything but so far this has been one of our favorite cities on this journey!

To see more photos of The Zoo Cafe, just click HERE

To see more photos of the Szimpla Kert ruin bar , just click HERE

Cheers!
Barb and John

Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam in the afternoon. Our train from Paris took us right into the heart of Amsterdam. From there we hopped a tram to our host's place, the number 2 tram which National Geographic described as a "once in a lifetime experience" as it passes some of Amsterdam's great attractions and you get to see so much of this amazing city. The neighborhood we were staying in was in the city and it was it's own little place with a great variety of shops, bars and restaurants. We could have spent our week in that neighborhood alone.

Our host Patricia lives in an older building in Amsterdam. The buildings are all beautiful and her apartment was perfect, with tall ceilings and windows . To get to her apartment, you climb very steep, narrow, winding stairs. Holy cow! Once you arrive at her apartment, there is another set of stairs to arrive on the main floor. The bedrooms are yet on another floor. My knees were screaming! But a week in this fabulous city was worth it!

We found a great little restaurant in the neighborhood to have dinner that first evening. The next day, we hopped on the number 2 tram for a ride back into the heart of the city.

Amsterdam is known for many things, the canals, bikes, the red light district and coffeeshops (not for drinking coffee. If you aren't sure what I mean, I encourage you to look it up) As curious, informative travelers who want to experience all a city offers, John and I immersed ourselves into the Amsterdam vibe. Hello! Amsterdam rocks!

Each day we ventured out whether it was to the heart of Amsterdam or just within the neighborhood. John could get a good IPA in Amsterdam (beers in Europe are not what we Ashevillians expect beer to be, I think we are spoiled). We found a great little bar that served cheap beer while we people watched. We walked through the red light district during the day, I think it made me more sad for the women than anything else.

The food was great in the city, 2 places in particular. One day we went to an open market with vendors that sold everything from baked goods to Nike's along with a singing Elvis to entertain the shoppers. At the end of the market was a little stand that sold Doner kebabs and wraps. We had one of the best wraps that we have ever eaten - lamb and veggies. I would have taken a photo but we downed it in record time!

Down the street from our apartment, there was a take away Indonesian place. Never having Indonesian food we were curious. There was always a line out the door and we ended up going there twice. We aren't sure exactly what we ate but it was delicious! Oh! And in Amsterdam we discovered Stroop Waffles. Not sure what they are made of, possibly a cookie cracker with a caramel filling but they are to die for. We pack them now in our backpacks and pick them up whenever we see them.

 One day we visited the famous De Pozenboot - the cat boat. This is a boat on a canal that is a refuge for stray and abandoned cats. They have adoptable cats on board but the real stars are the permanent residents who for one reason or another are unadoptable.


Some afternoons I'm not quite sure I remember what we did.

We really enjoyed Amsterdam and all it has to offer. I have to say it is probably the most beautiful city I have seen. It is clean, the buildings are beautiful as are the canals. The people are friendly but man watch our for those bikers, they have the right of way and some are very aggressive! Visit Amsterdam if you ever get the chance, it is amazing!

If you would like to see more photos from our time in Amsterdam, you can just CLICK HERE

Cheers!
Barb

Bilbao Spain

In between our Sits in Hereford, England and Poitou-Charentes, France, we had a couple of days open so we chose to visit Bilbao on the northern coast of Spain. Barb had read about Leon Spain and bars that served complimentary pinxtos, pronounced pink-saws, served free at bars when buying a glass of wine. Pinxtos are similar to tapas and popular in northern Spain. Various toppings are usually served on top of a piece of bread with a toothpick to keep it all together. Our dear friend Bob G. taught us how to have “app and go’s” (going from place to place and sharing appetizers) when snacking and drinking in Asheville so we knew it was a fun style of eating allowing us to try different foods. Also, neither of us ever thought we would be able to travel to Spain so we found a cheap flight and off we went to Bilbao for two and a half days.


We took a night flight into Bilbao and enjoyed a cab to our hotel down curvy mountainous highway roads to the flatland of Bilbao. The lights of the city looked very appealing. Our hotel was in the heart of Old Town but it was late so we unpacked our stuff and thought about what we might see in the morning.

As we exited our hotel in the morning we walked into beautiful old town! There was a nice energy from the many people walking on the pedestrian cobblestone walkway. To the left was a road with several buses and I saw train tracks I later learned were for the tram taking people around the city. We opted to walk toward the courtyard admiring the tall buildings on both sides of the walkway. We passed a couple of side streets with gorgeous old buildings with seating and canopies in front of some of them. We saw an opening a short distance from us and in a few minutes reached an open courtyard with many seats around small tables with huge umbrellas advertising the name of a restaurant directly in front of the seating areas.

Pintxos

We went into the closest restaurant, Bizuet. It was a narrow store with a row of tables and a counter filled with plates of pintxos, tapas, on two tiers with a section of small plates stacked with a spoon and a packet of sugar. There were a half dozen people seated at the counter and a few others scattered in the remaining seats. The man behind the counter was very busy working the cash register and setting fresh pinxtos in front of the customers and removing empty plates and coffee cups.


I perused the selection, cold fish omelette on French bread, fried octopus ball on top of salmon and French bread, ham and cheese on French bread and many others some with creams, cheeses, meats, fruit, you name it, both sweet and savory. I requested “Dos cafes y un con leche.”, perhaps a grammatical nightmare but understood and probably appreciated. The second worker behind the bar looked at me briefly then quickly turned to the coffee machine and began the process. After getting the café started he briefly explained he would bring them to me.


I went outside where Barb was seated at one of the small tables with an empty chair waiting for me. I explained the food situation and suggested we, I, select a couple and be ready for any type of food because it was difficult to discern what made up all the choices. She said she would trust my choices and anything would be ok to try.

We saw the many tiny terraces off the apartments above the stores and thought how nice it would be to get an AirBnB there and have coffee looking onto the scene we were in. Barb said she felt she was on a movie set. The town took her breath away. It was during that first encounter Barb declared she was in love with Bilbao. Oh, I almost forgot. Directly behind the seating area is the Santiago Cathedral, from the 14^th-15^th century.


Within moments our coffee arrived and we both sat talking, drinking delicious coffee and watching the many people flowing by between us and the store fronts. There were young people arm in arm, old couples, families, people being helped in wheel chairs, and dogs all to the backdrop of constant chatter, mostly non-intelligible words. An old man added to the entertainment of people watching by playing an accordion of pop tunes singing in Spanish. All of the tables eventually filled and the people ate pinxtos, drank beer or wine and, sometimes, non-alcoholic beverages, usually the children. It was a great people watching venue.


I eventually went back into the Bizuet and selected a couple of pinxtos, octopus and cheese, ham sandwich and the cold fish omelette. Our waiter brought them out with another round of cafes and we thoroughly enjoyed them.

Old town appeared to be built around the court we sat in with streets radiating to a main road. There were side streets down as you walked out toward the main road surrounding the center of Old Town some with smaller courtyards set up similarly to where we were. We walked around feeling safe with the many people out and about.

We stopped back at our lunch stop for some wine and more food when closing time, 10p, sneaking up on us. We paid our bill and headed happily to our hotel.

Guggenheim Museum

On our second day in Bilbao we decided to walk the mile to see the Guggenheim museum of modern and contemporary art. It was commissioned by the king of Spain to be built on the decrepit area of the port of Bilbao to bring the area back to its prior stature. The pre-opening of the museum was attended by over 5,000 people and the museum architecture being praised as one of the premier buildings of our time. We wanted a destination to see more of the city.

As we walked, we noticed the buildings were a seemingly well thought out combination of old and new all blending into a picturesque city. We ventured out during the heat of the day so we tried to navigate by traveling, as much as possible, in the shade between the buildings. I noticed the temperatures ranged from 75 to 92 degrees along our route with the difference being the shade. There was light traffic and some people on the streets but we both felt safe and enjoyed the beauty of the city. The restaurants and bars were all inviting and we stopped a few times to relax and enjoy a drink and all were welcoming. There were green spaces with benches and shade and the terrain was level.

It was a stark comparison between a “decrepit port area” and its appearance today, clean, vibrant with buses and a tram stopping frequently by the museum. The museum is fantastic and like nothing I have ever seen and striking difference from any of the architecture, modern and old, in the rest of the city. The bridge that spans the Nervion river appeared to have a modern and whimsical feel complimenting the museum.

We admired the museum from the outside before making our way back to Old Town. We didn’t take the same route home because Barb’s internal compass knows where we have to go so we make decisions on a street by street basis. Our return trip was as enjoyable and impressive as the first half.







Bilbao is a city of 350K with a heavy flow of tourists. We would love to go back and enjoy more of the city or perhaps find a smaller city in Spain offering a smaller, more local flavor. Spain is definitely on our radar to visit again!

Cheers!
John

If you would like to see more of Barb's photos of Bilbao, just CLICK HERE

Munich

When we visit unfamiliar cities or towns of any size we like to take a tour to see if any section or streets appeals to us. Since we’ve been in Europe the “City Tours-Hop-on-Hop-Off” have been perfect. So on our initial trip into Munich, Barb found out where that tour company starts their tours and we took the train to the city center. The tour cost about $23 each but we were entitled to three tours and an English audio tour. The bus showed us Nymphenburg Palace, Olympic Park, the English Garden, the historic Old Town, Odeonsplatz and many others, about 19 specific places and general information about Munich. Our strategy is to take one full route, identify potential places of interest and take the next bus to those locations at no additional cost. We were directed to a bus immediately across the street from the bus tour building so we hopped on and listened to the stories and information and saw a clean, beautiful and vibrant city. I made some notes on the tour map of places that might be fun to go back to.  After the first tour, nine points of interest, we decided to eat some authentic German food. We didn’t want to walk too far so we could get on the next route. Looking around we saw a Subway, a sign that indicated what was probably Lebanese cuisine, the Best Kebabs & Pizza in Munich, Ruff’s Burger and Taco Libre. Plenty of delicious looking ethnic food but no sign of any German fare. We opted for Taco Libre and split a carbonated lime drink and a scrumptious quesadilla for about $10.50. Disappointed but definitely satisfied.

The pedestrian area at Marienplatz

We saw the bus for the next tour and hopped on, plugged in our earphones and enjoyed the next sites. I had a couple of places marked on my map as we headed to the last stop before getting back to our starting point, Marienplatz. There was a very large pedestrian area busy with people walking and sitting under umbrellas in front of restaurants and cafes. We also saw a few German cuisine restaurants so I looked at Barb and we both agreed this was our stop. As we got off the bus Barb said the Viktualienmarkt, outdoor market, was in this area. We headed for what looked to be a bar with the front sliding doors wide open to a few tables in front looking onto the pedestrian area. As our luck would have it we were in a restaurant/bar that serves beer from the Paulaner brewery. I ordered a pilsner and Barb ordered a similar beer called the Furstenburg, she had to for our friend Ryan Furstenberg. As we drank the beer Barb turned on her cellular trying to locate the market and deduced it must be behind the huge building across the walkway and talked about making our way over there, after finishing our second beer.


As dinner time was upon us we went to one of the first German restaurants. It was busy with diners all sitting at long tables. With no hostess, find seats, ask if those spots are available and sit down. The harried smiling waitress rushed to our table and asked if we would like the English menu. She came back with it showing each item has a three digit number, placed a small pad and pen on the table and asked if we would write down our selection and she would be most grateful.


In short order we had our beers and no sooner toasted to our good fortune when the food was brought to the table, a plate of sauerkraut, boiled potatoes and five small “vurst” of different types and a basket of pretzels. The food was exactly what we wanted and it didn’t disappoint.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel

As we left the restaurant Barb pointed straight ahead of us across the pedestrian walkway and said the market should be somewhere in that direction. There were businesses and many people to our left and an old building to our right. We headed toward the right. We passed through some arches into a huge courtyard surrounded by large building one being the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. The building dates back to 1908 and every day at 1100 and 1300, dolls high up on the building, reenacts dances in tribute to a 16^th century Duke with a dance of hope and encouragement. There were many people and businesses and we saw the stairs for our train home. We meandered around down one street and another looking at people and the different stores. As we turned one corner we noticed tops of tents across the street from us. Barb said, correctly, “I think that is the market.” Although we had no idea exactly how we got there it turns out it was exactly on the other side of the building Barb initially indicated.
The market was quite large with many tents of merchants selling wine, cheese, flowers, produce, prepared foods from sushi to brats and beer. In the center of the market were huge chestnut trees and dozens of picnic tables with the backs of each bench seat abutted against the one behind it with rows in between sections of the benches.

The beer garden

I went to a small booth with the sign “Bier”. The building may have been 10’X15’ with a small gate and turnstile to direct the flow of customers. All the signs were in German but I was able to understand “.51 L ‎€ 3.9” over the first window and “1 L ‎€7.6” over the second. It wasn’t difficult because on the counter were glasses of beer of two different sizes. I picked up two of the half liter and moved to the third window with the man with a wooden change box on the counter quite worn from sliding change coins out for the many customers. He spoke to me in German, I handed him the ‎€ 10 he passed me my change and said “Danka”. There was always a line there every time we went to the market, sometimes with 8 people sometimes with 20, but it never took more than a few minutes before I walked away with my beer.


I found Barb at the table sitting next to some people with a scrumptious plate of food. We toasted to our good fortune and took a sip. There were hundreds of people sitting in and around the picnic tables, old, young, some dressed fancy, mostly dressed casually. Some had their meals served to them from the surrounding merchants, others brought Tupperware filled containers or pulled from plastic bags bought from a market merchant but almost everyone seemed to have beer. We loved it!

The beer festival

On one of our visits to the Viktualienmarkt beer garden, we sat next to a couple from Munich. Wolfgang and his wife lived near Viktualienmarkt and came to the market about 3 times a week. Over beers we talked history, politics, Germany and the US. They asked if we would like to go to a Wine festival. Of course! So the 4 of us left the beer garden for a short walk to the wine festival. The festival was packed. Wolfgang turned to us and asked if a beer festival would do. Of course! We took a bus and ended up under the famous Angel of Peace to a wonderful festival. More beer, German music, a good sized pretzel and we were enjoying the festivities. When it was time to go, Wolfgang and his wife accompanied us back to the train station. We said our goodbyes and headed back “home”.

To see more of our photos from Munich, click here for Barb's photo's.

Cheers!
John